


Fate, Meetings, and a New Threat

by SwoodMaxProductions



Series: Break the Curse, Break the Cycle [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: AU, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Defying Fate, Gen, Good Ganondorf, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 10:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21052613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwoodMaxProductions/pseuds/SwoodMaxProductions
Summary: Seven years after the events of Twilight Princess, the three Triforce bearers are reunited by a very small man who’s up against some very big enemies they have in common: the governing spirits of fate itself.The cycle must be broken.





	Fate, Meetings, and a New Threat

**Author's Note:**

> THE WAIT IS OVER, PART TWO IS HERE!

He could never go back. Not after everything he had seen. After everything he’d done. After everyone he’d met…

Link flopped onto the soft bed, sighing. It had been seven years. And still, it felt like yesterday. He was almost disgusted with himself for wanting those days back. Those were times of chaos, fear and bloodshed. But the struggle against that hardship had made him feel… important. Not important like a political figure, but important in a way that gave him hope, yes, but more importantly, gave others hope.

Because back then, what he did MATTERED.

Nowadays, people treated him… differently. Like they had forgotten who he was. Most people seemed to only care about his divine ties. He’d long since laid the Master Sword back to rest, but it didn’t stop people from acting like he was some sort of religious figure for wielding it. He’d even left the green hat and tunic he’d once been so proud to wear back… at Ordon Village. He couldn’t call it home anymore— at least, he didn’t think so. Because he had CHANGED. Apparently. It didn’t feel like it, but almost everyone BEHAVED as if he had. And it bothered him.

And the fact that the aristocracy was propping up his image to try to demonize magic bothered Link even more. He didn’t dare tell anyone about Midna. He didn’t know what would happen if word got out that the Hero had fraternized with “the enemy”. And worst of all, nothing he said or did seemed to make a difference.

He’d reasoned that his best option was to simply… disappear.

Link had been traveling almost constantly. Tonight, he’d returned to Kakariko Village. The Elde Inn was often very discreet about his identity, knowing what he had done for everyone and how Link appreciated the privacy. It was nice.

Eventually, Link was finally able to drift off to sleep…

~~~

“Hero of Twilight…”

Link jumped. He was in the foggy realm of the Hero’s Shade. Sure enough, materializing out of the mist was the spectral warrior himself.

“Shade…? But I thought… I thought you were going to… you know…”

The spirit chuckled, shaking his skeletal head.

“I was never one to sit idly by as danger threatened or someone needed me. Besides… whoever said inability to pass down my skills was my ONLY regret?”

The fog rippled, revealing a stone table and two chairs.

“Have a seat, Link. We need to talk.”

Link did as his predecessor instructed, nervous now. What was going on?

“Link, terrible events have been set in motion. Fate itself will become your enemy. There are two people you must meet with. The first is my mentor. He taught me everything I know, and despite his… eccentricity, you will need his help. He will be waiting for you outside the Forest Temple. He will introduce you to…”

The Hero’s Shade pondered his next words carefully.

“Link, I need you to know the reason I was only an honorary knight. In my youth, I was sealed away for seven years by drawing the Master Sword. When I defeated Ganondorf in the dark future, I was returned to my childhood. I told the Royal Family about Ganondorf.”

The old swordsman shook his head regretfully.

“Years later, I realized I had made a terrible mistake. I learned from my mentor about the nature of our cycle, and the dark entity that clawed away at Ganondorf’s mind, the true source of his evil deeds. I heard of his execution… and I knew I could not become a Knight of Hyrule. Not knowing the dark truth of what I would truly be fighting for.”

The Shade sighed.

“I’m not going to hide the truth from you. Ganondorf is resurrected, but he was a pawn. A very unwilling pawn in a game of fated bloodshed. He is not the true evil. Find my mentor at the Forest Temple. He can explain everything far better than I…”

~~~

“And to what do I owe this visit, Lanayru?”

The light spirit’s ethereal coils filled Princess Zelda’s chambers, its eyes fixed upon her.

“A new threat has emerged. He is a creature that many had long believed extinct: an Ancient One. One of the accursed tribe that once battled Her Grace, Hylia. And Ganondorf is with him, resurrected by a dark cult..”

Ganondorf. She still had so many questions about him. And the most pressing one resurfaced anew in her mind.

Why had he saved her life?

She had intended to give her life to save Midna. Better to die than to live as a slave. But… Ganondorf… He had saved her. He’d poured his life into hers, pulling her back from the brink of death. Why? The twisted Usurper King’s mysterious master had been far more rational than his… ally? Even he had seemed repulsed by Zant. And he… had spoken with her. Not just TO her, as Zant had, but WITH her.

And everything about him had seemed… off. The way he spoke, his admitted reluctance in working with Zant, the suffering in his eyes… it didn’t match up with what she’d been told.

“You must destroy him. Gather your troops, summon your light arrows, and strike him down before it’s too late.”

Zelda frowned. This was the same sort of thing the spirits had said about Midna...

“I cannot. I’m going to investigate, not charge in blindly with no regard for anyone’s well-being.”

The spirit’s coils tensed. It hissed, an ominous, echoing sound reverberating in her soul.

“It is your imperative! As the mortal vessel of the Goddess, you are tasked with cleansing the land of evil!”

“Spirit, you don’t know if he’s evil. If I had heeded Faron’s so-called warning about Midna, all would have been lost. You said it yourself, the cult resurrected Ganondorf, not him. And he’s only one man! I’m going to talk to him first before I plunge Hyrule into chaos again.”

Lanayru was silent. Too silent.

“So be it… YOU HAVE TURNED AGAINST YOUR DESTINY.”

And the serpent struck.

~~~

Princess Zelda woke gradually, pain flooding her senses. A weak groan rose from her throat as she squirmed in the strange cot she’d awoken in.

“Oh, Your Highness!”

Zelda jumped, gasping involuntarily at the pain it caused her.

“Oh dear, are you alright?”

The friendly voice belonged to a very small man in a comparatively very large purple coat. His hair was bright, shiny orange, and his ears looked too big for him, but there was something in his squinting eyes and cheery smile that spoke of… something. Something important.

Zelda sat up, hissing in pain. Pain that was coming from two glowing scars on her torso— wounds from Lanayru’s fangs.

The little man who had apparently saved her life simply kept fussing over her as though it were perfectly normal for someone to incur injuries like hers. It was honestly all rather… cute.

“How do you feel, Your Highness?”

“...Like I had two semi-astral fangs the size of swords shoved through me…”

He laughed, and so did Link, who she realized was sitting on another nearby cot.

“So. She’s awake.”

Zelda froze, and so did Link. They both knew the deep, gravelly voice. Ganondorf stood in the doorway, yellow eyes locked onto them. 

“Yes. It seems the fates have already put their plan into motion. Princess Zelda… you’ve been unconscious for two days. In that time, the Sages and light spirits, as well as their masters, have… er, how should I put this… they’ve replaced you. With a divine construct.”

Zelda’s heart dropped.

“W… what?!”

Ganondorf laughed.

“Not so blessed now, are you? How does it feel to be spurned by the gods?”

A dark silence enshrouded the room. The only thing more infuriating to Zelda than Ganondorf’s smug demeanor was her knowledge, deep down, that he was RIGHT.

“Everyone,” piped the little stranger, thankfully breaking the silence, “We are about to stand against the greatest threat this land has seen in millennia. The spirits of fate have resolved to retake Hyrule by force. We will need to destroy the Sages first. The Six Sages cannot be obedient husks. We need PEOPLE. And the only way to achieve that… is to kill them, and reattune mortal Sages.”

“Who are you?! How do you know these things?” Zelda demanded.

The man just kept smiling.

“Your Highness, I am the Happy Mask Salesman. And I am a very knowledgeable man.”


End file.
